Improved covers for sewing-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT ortica.

F. FRENCH, oF NEw YORK, N. Y.

iMPlovD jOvERs FR sla'wnve- MACHINES.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 98,485, dated January '1, 1870.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, E. F. FRENCH, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Covers for Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification.

The nature ot' my invention consists in constructing covers for sewing-machines in such a manner that they will not warp or spring, and still be equally as strong and durable as those now ordinarily manufactured, have a neater or more ornamental appearance, and admit of being made equally as cheap.

Hithe'rto the covers for sewing machines have been constructed in simple box-formfour sides, of equal thickness, secured at the angles or corners by dovetails, miter-joints, or other connections. These covers, in consequence of being thus constructed, frequently warp or spring, and, even when made of wellseasoned wood, are often returned to the manufacturer to be repaired, and sometimes require to be replaced by new ones.

By my improvement I not only avoid this diculty, but also obtain the advantage of having a cover which will admit of being taken apart and packed within a very limited space, so as to economize in transportation, and also admit of being put together with the greatest facility at any time when required.

To effect this I make my cover in the usual form, rectangular, as that probably would be the most desirable shape. The cover is constructed of a frame, in which panels, which compose the sides ot' the cover, are inserted, the panels, of course, being made out ot' much thinner stuff than the frame, and all soarranged that the several parts which comprise the cover may be taken apart and put together again with the greatest facility, the panels being titted loosely in grooves in the inner edges or surfaces of the parts composing the frame, so that said panels may shrink without the liability of splitting, and swell, without straining the frame or forcing the cover out of proper shape. h

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, Figure 1 is aside view of my invention Fig. 2,'a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in the line :v w, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an inverted plan of the same, partly in section Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

The frame ot' the cover is composed of uprights or stiles a, of any suitable wood,con nected by horizontal rails or cross-pieces b.

` These stiles and cross-pieces are properly framed together by tongue and groove, or other suitable joints, as shown in Fig. 3, at c. The frame has a panel, d, fitted within it at each side, the panels being ot' much less thickness than the stuff ot' which the parts composing the frame is made. (See Fig. 2.) These panels are fitted in grooves c, made in the inner edges ot' the upriglits or stiles and the crossrails of the frame, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. y In practice I design to have these parts so made that they may be titted together and taken apart without any trouble or difiiculty whatever. By this means I can, in shipping the covers in quantities, have the parts of each cover disconnected, so that a large number ot' covers may be packed within a small compass or space, and when they have arrived at their destination, or at any time after when desired, be put together and made ready for use.

In putting the several parts of a cover permanently together, the stiles and cross-pieces of the frame may be glued at their joints, but the panels d are not glued in the grooves in the stiles and rails, and the panels, therefore, are allowed to shrink, if they shrink at all, without being liable to check, crack, or split.

The top e of the cover may be constructed similarly to its sides, and fitted to the top rails by dowel-pins f, or other suitable means. (See v ,Figa 2.)

f By this mode of construction I obtain a sew- `ingmachine cover which is free from the principal objections attending those as ordinarily made, checking by shrinkage being avoided, the covers admitting of being readily put together and taken apart, to economize in transportation, and having a far neater appearance than those as now made.

I am aware that sewing-machine covers have been made with moldings tacked, glued, or

otherwise secured to their exterior, so as to imitate paneling or a panel-make. This, however, although' giving to a cover the same appearance as one constructed according' to my invention, has none of the essential advantages of the latter, as the difficulty attending shrinkage is not avoided, no economy eected as regards the amount of timber or stuii used in the manufacture. i

I would remark that the uprights or stiles may be composed each of one or more longitudinal pieces, connected together by glue or otherwise. The drawings, however, represent them as being formed each out of one piece, and this I prefer.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim aslnew, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The herein-described cover for sewing-machines, the same consisting of Stiles b b, solid i E. F. FRENCH.

i Witnesses: `1 WM. F. MGNAMARA, A. R. HAIGHT. 

